Glass-tank.



G. W. SGHWENZFBIER.

GLASS TANK.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T.15,

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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GLASS TANK.

' APPLIOATION :FILED 00T.15, 1907.

908, 1 5 1 Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

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2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

"NrrED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES WILLY SCHWENZFEIER, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE TOLEDO GLASS COMPANY, OFOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

GLASS-TANK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

Application led October 16, V190'3'. Serial No. 397,490.

therein to the accompanying drawings.

The inventionl relates to improvements in glass melting tanks. i

In the use of machines which gather from a massof molten lass, such for instance as shown in Patent o.` 766,768, dated August 2, 1904,it has been found that the dipping of the gathering tool or mold into the glass chills it. There has also been used a traveling or rotary tank from which the glass was gathered, theI 'chilled or gathering point moving under a hoed-or into a heating .chamber to be reheated before a succeeding gathering operation. With such.' previous devices the glass Was melted in a stationary tank of the so-called continuous type, and flowed by gravity from a spout into the rotary tank at va point within the heating chamber. With some-kinds of glass thisreviously used construction is very satis- ?actory, but with others it has been found that the glass in the rotary tank contains bubbles, which in the blown article give a bad appearance or defect which it is very desirable to avoid. It is probable that these bubblesarise or are formed by the falling of the glass from the stationary tank into the rotary tank, and as this delivery of the glass takes place near the periphery of the 'rotaryv tank the bubbles arev substantially at. the gathering point. Itisv diiiicult, if not impossible, to carry the spout any further into the rotary tank, because, of the intense heat within the heating chamber in which this spout would have to be located. y

The present invention contemplates the constructing of a rotary or ltraveling tank of suiiicient size to combine with it the melting tank, preferably as a central chamber therein, supplying the gas to this central chamber beneath, a suitable cover over the tank, and providing a partition which will separate this heating chamber from'the outer portion of the tank, which outer. portion may be called the-working or refining chamber, and into-which the glass Hows through the lower portion of the partition. In this way I am followlmg 1s a spec1cat1on,'reference belng had enabled to get the 'glass from the melting chamber to the workmg. or refining chamber without any falling thereof from one chamber t another, and also, as I preferably feed the material into the center of the melting chamber, I obtain a sutliciently long interval between thetinie that the glass is melted at the middle and Hows downward and outward to the periphery so that if any bubbles are formed plenty of time is given for them to dissipate, as they will if suficient time is allowed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan "view of my improved tank, with a part of the top broken away, and showing a diagram illustrating the position of the gathering machine and showing the exposed point at which the gathering machine operates; Fig. 2 isa longitudinal section through my'improved device. j

A represents a vertical shaft which at its lower end is supported in any suitable manner, preferably by having an enlarged bottom plate resting on rollers and driven by any suitable drive mechanism, such for instance as a worm and a worm wheel. This construction of support and drive mechanism may be of any usual stepped shaft construction, and therefore I do not deem it necessary to illustrate it. Near the upper part of the shaft I secure the bowl-shaped casting B, and within this I secure to the shaft the collar C having a curved outer face, making a substantially spherical bearing, around which is fitted the complementary bearing D secured to the cross-bars E, which act as a stay for the upper portion of the shaft. To the upper end of the shaft is secureda frame work F, which may be and preferably is a trussed metallic frame work, and upon which frame Work is secured a comparatively shallow tank 4Gr, this tank being circular in form and having the outer vertical side Wall H.

I `I are vertical standards around the tank, fromrwhich is supported th'e roofor cover J of the brick Work, as usual, and of complementary form, so as to entirely close the circular tank, in the manner clearly shown at the left, Fig. 2. At one point or more t-han one point as desired) ,-wherever the gathering or dipping is lto take place,-I provide the segmental wall or walls) K, so arranged as to allow a small segment of the tank to project out beyond t-he cover or top and leave a dipping or gathgring section L of the tank exposed, as clearly illustrated at the right, Figs. 1 and 2.

iVithn the tank I provide a partition M, which may be and preferably is a hollow partition, to keep it from burning out, and this partition is preferably a circular partition, so that there will be formed within the tank a central chamber N and an outer annular chamber O. The partition M may and preferably does extend to up near the roof or cover over the tank, there being sutiicient room, however, so that some of the heat and flame directed into the melting chamber will pass over into the outer or annular-working chamber, so as to maintain it at the proper temperature. l

Through the cover or top I provide one or more gas inlet passages P, which may be connected with any suitable source of gas supply. In the drawings I have shown two gas inlets, one on either side of the center, and these are preferably operated in the usual way,*that is the gas is first taken in through one and out through the other, and then the supply and exit reversed. It will be observed that the gas inlet is into the interior or melting chamber. Centrally of the top or cover I have shown a valve-controlled inlet Q, with a hopper R above the same, so constructed and arranged that when the valve is removed and the hopper lowered through the aperture the batch to be melted may be fed into the center of the melting chamber.

At S I have indicateda gathering machine of the rotary type, the small circles around the vmachine showing the position of the molds which are adapted to dip into the explgsed or gathering section L of the rotary tan The parts being thus constructed, their operation is as follows: The tank being charged with batcli, through the hopper R,

the glass will fall into the interior or central chamber of the tank, the gas being ignited and dischargedtherein in the usual manner, the glass will melt and flow from the middle to the sides and out through a port or ports T in the lower portion of the partition M into the outer annular chamber O. When the desired level of glass is thus obtained in 'at no time is there anydropping ofthe glass from one level to another, which as before described would have a tendency to create bubbles.

This construction is also desirable for the reason that it gives a large area around the tank free from brickwork or other obstructions, so that a multiple of machines may be placed around the same tank and thus economize space in the factory.

What I claim is,--

l. A glass furnace comprising a stationary top and a rotating tank forming the bottom, having a portion of its marginal surface eX- posed for gathering, a partition dividing the rotating tank into a-n inner melting chamber and an outer working chamber, an'd dividing the furnace chamber correspondingly, and means for feeding batch into the melting chamber.

2. A glass furnace comprising a stationary top and a rotating ta'k forming the bottom, having a port-ion of its marginal surface exposed for gathering, an annular partition dividing the tank and the furnace into inner and outer chambers, means for feeding batch into the inner chamber through the top, the top o'f the inner chamber having gas inlets and outlets. I

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES WILLY SCHWENZFEIER.

Witnesses:

J. W. H. ADABSHAW, I. T. D. SMITH. 

